The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly, to electrical connectors that are mounted on printed circuits.
Electrical connectors are commonly used to interconnect a wide variety of electrical components. Some electrical connectors are mounted on printed circuits (sometimes referred to as “circuit boards”) for electrically connecting the printed circuit to another electrical component via a mating connector of the other electrical component. When the electrical connector is mated with the mating connector of the other electrical component, the printed circuit may flex and/or experience stress. For example, an insertion force required to mate the connectors together may stress the printed circuit and/or cause the printed circuit to flex during mating of the connectors. The flexing of, and/or the stresses applied to, the printed circuit may damage the printed circuit, for example causing the printed circuit to fracture, crack, and/or non-elastically deform. Flexing of the printed circuit can also dislodge the electrical connector from the printed circuit, possibly breaking one or more of the electrical connections between the electrical connector and the printed circuit.
Some known electrical connectors and printed circuits are engaged by support members that support the electrical connector and the printed circuit during mating with the mating connector. But, known support members extend along one or more sides of the electrical connector. Such known support members thereby occupy space within a mating area of the printed circuit along which the electrical connector is mounted. Mounting support members along the side of an electrical connector is an inefficient use of the limited space of the mating area of the printed circuit. For example, mounting support members along the side of an electrical connector may limit the overall number and/or size of electrical connectors that can be located along the mating area of the printed circuit.